Category: Laptop

Lenovo Yoga 7i 15 unboxing and first impressions

Lenovo’s new Yoga 7i is here, and it’s a 15.6-inch convertible with Intel’s 11th-generation ‘Tiger Lake’ processors. It’s a bit different from the Yoga 9i that I’m currently reviewing, because while they’re both 15.6-inch PCs, the Yoga 9i has a 45W processor and dedicated graphics. This one has a regular U-series processor and Intel’s brand-new Iris Xe graphics.

That also means that it comes with Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means that you can power two 4K displays and get data transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. In fact, if the integrated graphics aren’t enough for you, you can always hook up an external GPU.

There are some compromises over the flagship Yoga 9i though. The Yoga 7i does have Dolby Atmos speakers, but the rotating soundbar isn’t there. There’s also no pen garage; in fact, for this mainstream PC, you’ll have to buy the pen separately.

One thing that I really like is the new Dark Moss color. I’m really tired of Lenovo producing these gunmetal gray types of colors, so it’s nice to see the change of pace.

Sorry, but the new MacBook Air is not faster than 98% of PC laptops

Let me just say it out loud, OK? Apple is full of it. I’m referring to Apple’s claim that its fanless, Arm-based MacBook Air is “faster than 98 percent of PC laptops.” Yes, you read that correctly: Apple officials literally claimed that the new MacBook Air using Apple’s custom M1 chip is faster than 98 percent of all PC laptops sold this year.

Typically, when a company makes such a claim, it publishes a benchmark, a performance test or actual details on what it’s basing that marketing claim on. This to prevent lawyers from launching out of missile silos across the world.

Apple’s website restates the claim by stating: “M1 is faster than the chips in 98 percent of PC laptops sold in the past year.” The site also includes a detail note that states: “Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1 chip and 16GB of RAM. Performance measured using select industry-standard benchmarks. PC configurations from publicly available sales data over the last 12 months. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect approximate performance of MacBook Pro.”

Apple is so full of it

So, not only does Apple not say what tests it’s basing its claims on, it doesn’t even say where it sources the comparable laptops.

Does that mean the new fanless MacBook Air is faster than, say, Asus’ stupidly fast Ryzen 4000 based, GeForce RTX 2060-based Zephyrus G14? Does it mean the MacBook Air is faster than Alienware’s updated Area 51M?
The answer, I’m going to guess is “no.” Not at all. Is it faster than the miniLED-based MSI Creator 17? Probably not, either.

And what is that “performance” claim hinged on? CPU performance? GPU performance? Performance running Windows? Is it using the same application running on both platforms? Is it experiential? Is this running Red Dead Redemption II or Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War? Is it running CyberLink’s PowerDirector? Is it running Fortnite?

While I have absolutely no idea what Apple is basing its claims on, I can tell you that I am 98 percent sure that any of the above laptops listed will wreck the MacBook Air doing any of the tasks I just named.

When Apple makes its claims, my guess is they are comparing the new M1 to Intel-based processors ranging from Atom to Celeron N to Core i3 and up, all with integrated graphics. But by not defining the word “performance,” all this becomes just pure marketing spin. And is it really fair to compare a $999 MacBook to one that costs $150? Because $150 PCs are included in the 98 percent of laptops sold.

Maybe Apple should compare its own $150 MacBook Air against a $150 Chromebook or Windows-based laptop. Of course, that would mean Apple would have to sell a product that most people can afford. I have no doubt the M1 will be impressive, but do I think it’s going to compare to 8-cores of Ryzen 4000 performance or a GeForce RTX 2060? No. 

Have some dignity, Apple

But what really infuriates me is there’s just no reason for Apple do go to such absurd levels to make the case for its new Arm-based M1 in the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13 and MacMini.

The M1 chip, built using TSMC’s most advanced 5nm process, looks to be a truly solid tour de force of technical prowess that one should expect of one of the richest, for-profit corporations in human history. It’s simply going to sing—just sing—for applications that are optimized for it. And, yes, there will indeed be like-for-like applications where it is indeed faster than many, many x86-based, Windows laptops.

But there will also be many, many tasks that you can’t simply run on these Macs too. And there are likely to be cases where performance might just suck too compared to an x86 PC laptop.

Now, if you are into Macs and all that Apple offers, you should definitely consider the new Macs over older Intel-based Macs. I say that because I’m pretty sure buying an Intel-based Mac is like buying a ticket to stand on a deserted island so you can wave at Apple as it sails away in a party boat.

So, have some dignity Apple, and stop with the trolling just to get attention and hopefully sway the 93 out of 100 people who prefer to buy Windows laptops over MacOS laptops every year. 

HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 review: A good laptop with better competition

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 (dw0097nr) is a competent convertible laptop for handling the day-to-day workload of a work-from-home or distance-learning experience. It also offers some unique features, including a rare cellular option and a full-sized SD card slot. The USB-C and HDMI ports allow for two additional displays, including 4K support. While these attributes work in the Pavilion x360’s favor, its middling performance and underwhelming battery life make other laptops we’ve tested in its price range seem like a better deal.

This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best laptops. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them. 

As a convertible, HP’s Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 rotates easily into tent mode. The hinge is engineered well, preventing the laptop from sagging, even as it approaches a 180-degree angle.

HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 basic features

HP’s Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 hasn’t been on the market for long, but you may find that you’ll have a difficult time buying one—evidence of the buying spree brought on by the need to work/study from home during the pandemic. The laptop is currently available for $700 on HP.com, but in the course of the review it was sometimes sold out. 

In case you can’t find it, HP representatives recommended some virtually identical alternatives. The $650 HP Pavilion x360 Laptop 14t-dw000 lacks the Optane memory option and LTE WWAN. The $586.95 HP Pavilion x360 14t-dh200 is even more similar, though it also lacks WWAN options and you’ll need to pay a bit more for the 1080p display option. Both the 14t-dw000 and 14t-dh200 were in stock at press time, however, and should offer comparable performance.

Keep in mind that in all these machines, the processor’s “G1” suffix denotes the minimal amount of graphics capability provided. Higher-end members of Intel’s 10th-gen Ice Lake family offer more visual horsepower. 

Here are the specs for the unit we tested:

Display: 14-inch (1920×1080, WLED) multitouch, 250 nits (rated)

Processor: Intel Core i5-1035G1

Graphics: UHD 620

Memory: 8GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)

Storage: 256GB SSD+16GB Optane

Ports: 1 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps, charging, display), 2 USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (formerly USB 3.1, 5Gbps), 1 HDMI 2.0, SD card slot, 3.5mm jack, SIM slot (as reviewed) 

Camera: 720p (user-facing)

Battery: 41.3Wh (reported), 43Wh (rated)

Wireless: WiFi 6 (Intel Wireless-AC 9461 802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5, with Connected Modern Standby; Intel LTE (XMM 7360) SIM slot (as reviewed)

Operating system: Windows 10 Home

Dimensions (inches): 12.76 x 8.70 x 0.74 inches

Weight: 3.55 pounds

Color: Natural Silver (Exterior)/ Ash Silver (Interior)

Price: $700

Overall build quality and display

HP’s Pavilion x360 14 emerges from its box a bit on the heavy side, though that’d only be an issue if you actually traveled with it. Our review unit boasts the rather generic Natural Silver exterior. A narrow band of silver runs around the edge of the Dark Ash Silver keyboard deck.

Because the Pavilion is a 360-degree convertible, it flips smoothly from clamshell back into tent mode, supporting its own weight. During a year when we’ve been stuck inside most of the time, I’ve grown to appreciate laptops that can serve as portable entertainment centers during off hours.

Above the keyboard lies an unobtrusive grille from which the Pavilion x360 14 vents its warm air. The laptop puts out a steady whoosh of fan noise, even occasionally during routine tasks such as typing this review. It’s both soft and fairly constant enough, however, to fade into the background as white noise. 

HP’s display is passable, a common quality level among lower-priced laptops. Its backlight has a top brightness of about 250 nits, the bare minimum for what we consider to be sufficient for indoor work. My downstairs office gets minimal outside light, and I found the display to be just slightly on the dim side. Color fidelity seemed adequate, however, with sufficient viewing angles from either side. Just don’t expect to use it outdoors.

At this price point, a laptop’s aesthetics should be a bonus, not part and parcel of the experience. No one can help but notice, though, the wide lower display bezel of about an inch and a half. Though the side (quarter-inch) and the top (three-eights of an inch) bezels are slimmer, the overall effect is that the display feels a bit cramped.

Fortunately, the available ports adorning the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 make it easy to expand beyond the built-in display. HP includes both an HDMI 2.0 as well as SuperSpeed 10Gbps (formerly known as USB-C 3.2 Gen 2).

Unfortunately, though the HDMI 2.0 cable supports a single 4K monitor at up to 60Hz, the Core i5-1035G1 couldn’t manage to push my external 4K display beyond 30Hz. For those with sensitive eyes, the slow refresh rate can look jarring. Anything with motion—video, for example—can look jerky and, over time, can fatigue your eyes. Even typing on an otherwise static screen can be wearing. This problem, however, completely goes away if you have an external 1080p monitor, which the Pavilion x360 14 powers at a comfortable 60Hz.

HP supplies a 45W power supply inside of the box, which uses a round “barrel” connector to charge the laptop. Alternatively, you can use a third-party charger to charge the laptop via the USB-C port.

Typing, audio and camera

I tend to prefer keyboards with more pronounced key travel, so the shallow keyboard on the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 wasn’t especially comfortable over prolonged use. I almost always write a laptop review on the keyboard of the device that I’m reviewing, and I’ll be happy to go back to something which allows my fingers more flexibility.

My only other complaint is that the individual keys aren’t especially large. Otherwise, the Pavilion’s keyboard provides a comfortable typing experience. Its only other quirk is the column of Home, Pg Up, and related keys that runs along the right side of the keyboard, rather than the lower right-hand corner (as is more common).

Laptop audio is rarely good, and the Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 failed to convince us otherwise. Its speakers are thin, tinny, and generally unpleasant for listening to music or other audio, possibly because of the lack of low-end boost. Mid- to high-pitched music, like Molly Sandén’s “Husavik (My Hometown),” for example, sounded pretty good.

Normally, audio enhancement technologies help somewhat. Bang & Olufsen tuned the speakers and provided an audio utility conveniently designed with an equalizer and noise cancellation for the available microphone. But even headphones can’t really help; your best bet is to boost the bass as much as possible.

The same utility manages the microphone’s noise cancellation, which I found to be somewhat hit-and-miss. The B&O utility can be configured to filter out everything but your voice. It did a superb job at filtering out the back-and-forth of baseball announcers calling the game while I recorded my voice. One consequence, though, is that my voice’s volume levels fluctuated unexpectedly, which would be noticeable on a Zoom call. Using a headset should bypass all these limitations.

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 uses a 720p camera (as most laptops do), and I was pleased with its color fidelity. Unfortunately, there’s no Windows Hello capability at all—no depth camera, and no fingerprint reader either.

You may notice that this laptop includes an SSD plus Intel’s Optane Memory technology, which Intel designed as a sort of cache to improve app loading times. In general, the quick access to data that any SSD offers, relative to an old laptop with a spinning hard drive, will be noticeable. Don’t buy this laptop for the additional Optane capabilities, however, as it doesn’t make a meaningful difference.

A mix of bloatware and useful utilities

HP’s consumer laptops tend to ship with a hefty serving of bloatware, extra apps that HP preloads in hopes you’ll try them. HP JumpStarts, an app that lives on the Taskbar, serves as a gateway to the HP Support Assistant plus other offers: a one-month trial of Microsoft 365 for new customers, free games from WildTangent, and more. Amazon and Dropbox have shortcuts in the Taskbar. Separate apps in the Start menu offer 25GB of Dropbox storage free for a year, and there are shortcuts to ExpressVPN, Spotify, Netflix, and more. The Pavilion also ships with a three-month subscription to McAfee Personal Security.

HP offers a wealth of its own utility software, most of which serves a useful purpose—but there’s just so darn many of them! The HP Support Assistant, for example, includes useful driver updates for various components within the system, but it’s separate from Windows Update, and that’s distinct from the app-specific Microsoft Store. Dig though and you’ll be rewarded, as there’s a terrific amount of information and diagnostics available. 

We didn’t test one aspect of the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14: its cellular capabilities. I normally plug in a SIM and drive around my Bay Area town, testing throughput and coverage. Unfortunately, wildfire smoke levels were at unhealthy to toxic levels during my testing period, making drive tests inadvisable. I live at the periphery of a cell-phone tower’s range, which also wouldn’t be a fair test of the Pavilion x360’s abilities. 

Performance is merely average

Our performance assessments takes into account repeatable benchmarks as well as direct experience. As part of the review process, I used the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 for about a week, running it with dozens of Edge tabs open, alongside apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. With fifty or so tabs open, including streaming video from a MLB playoff game, I noticed a bit of input lag in how the Pavilion responded. Under the same conditions, but with an additional Zoom call running, I noticed that the laptop’s display fuzzed slightly, and briefly, as if the GPU couldn’t quite handle the load. That’s my everyday, work-at-home environment, though, and overall the Pavilion handled it very well. Streamed videos from YouTube and Netflix worked fine on the Pavilion’s own display.

Attaching an external 4K monitor created a few hiccups, and not just with YouTube streaming (where downsampling and upsampling resolutions sometimes resulted in choppy video). The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 actually crashed twice when I was playing back YouTube videos in Edge, switching playback resolutions, and dragging videos back and forth to an external monitor. The bug wasn’t completely repeatable, but I also experienced it while highlighting fields in Excel, after I had updated the graphics driver. HP didn’t have any advice for us by press time, but to be fair, secondary displays can introduce complexities.

What follows are results from our suite of synthetic and real-world benchmarks. We compared the HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 to its competition within the budget and mid-range laptop PC category. Its results are highlighted in red, below.

PCMark 8 Work/Creative: Everyday tasks

UL’s PCMark 8 Work test measures how well the laptop handles office tasks, from spreadsheets, word processing, and VoIP calls. Most laptops perform competently here, and any score over 2,000 is a good thing.

The PCMark 8 Creative benchmark assesses the laptop’s ability to perform more intensive tasks like video editing and photo manipulation, leaning more heavily on the integrated GPU for some light gaming. You shouldn’t expect to do much of the latter with the Pavilion x360 Convertible 14, though we’ll look at this more closely with the 3DMark test a bit later.

Cinebench: CPU performance

We use Maxon’s Cinebench test to look at the raw output of the CPU. The R15 test is older, meaning we have a broader base of laptops for comparison. It’s also a fast test, providing a snapshot of how the PC manages a “sprint” of processing demand. We use the multi-thread benchmark to evaluate how well the laptop does with all cores enabled. The single-threaded test, while applicable to most mainstream tasks, tends to yield pretty much the same result regardless of CPU. 

The Core i5-1035G1 inside is a quad-core processor, with eight processing threads. While its score is acceptable, it’s the slowest of all the compared laptops with the same CPU.

HandBrake: Sustained CPU workload

Where Cinebench is a sprint, HandBrake is a prolonged CPU test, where we transcode a movie into a format appropriate for an Android tablet. It’s useful as a measure of how well the laptop is thermally managed: An overheated laptop will have to clock down to avoid exceeding its thermal limits. Conversely, a well-cooled laptop will be able to run in an elevated turbo mode for longer, completing the job faster. It’s here that a well-designed laptop with a slower CPU can compete with a faster processor in a poorly-designed notebook PC. The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 again posted a lower score against the competition.

3DMark Sky Diver: Graphics performance

The 3DMark Sky Diver test is where we can examine the laptop for its gaming abilities. Let’s be clear: The “G1” designation is Intel’s signal that its graphics capabilities represent the least of Intel’s Ice Lake offerings, so we’re not expecting too much here. This is clearly not a gaming PC, and its mediocre score attests to that.

Battery life (video rundown test)

We end with battery life, an ordinarily critical aspect of a laptop that doesn’t mean quite as much with a global pandemic keeping us close to home. Nevertheless, it’s good to know whether you’d have the battery life to work outside, stop at a sidewalk cafe, or just crash on the couch for a change of scenery.

The Pavilion x360 Convertible 14’s 43Wh battery is on the small side for a laptop of its size, and that hurts it here. The laptop’s lackluster seven-plus hours of life might have been par for the course 18 months ago, but many laptops we see nowadays easily exceed 10 or more hours. 

Conclusion: Good but not great

The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 should suffice for working or learning from home. In our real-world use, it never felt especially poky. However, the numbers don’t lie: You can do better. From a performance standpoint, this is really the moment for AMD-powered laptops, such as the $655 Acer Swift 3. Acer’s recent $650 Spin 3 also compares favorably. If performance isn’t your priority, you might still have regrets about the battery life or the dim display.

There are always going to be trade-offs in low-priced laptops. The HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 14 just toes that line between acceptable and unacceptable compromise. 

Lenovo Yoga Duet 7 Review: Surface Pro 7 competitor with only a few weaknesses

The idea behind the tablet with a cover-keyboard isn’t new but continues to be popular due to its slim form factor, good mobility and flexibility. After all, who wants a Windows tablet without a keyboard? You might as well get a more affordable Android device – even if this means getting to now a new user interface. 

Microsoft has proven how successful and popular a good docking tablet can be. What’s more important, manufacturers can actually charge a good price for this kind of device. This alone is reason enough for Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer and Asus to want a slice of the cake.

After the ThinkPad X1 tablet from 2018, the Yoga Duet 7 13IML05 has now been launched as a consumer option for a more affordable price. The Duet is equipped with the very new Comet Lake processor while the older X1 tablet still has to make do with Kaby Lake – and still costs a lot more.

The 13-inch Duet 7 competes with Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 (Comet Lake), Dell’s Latitude 7200 (Kaby Lake) and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 tablet from 2018. 

Case

The case is well-made. It can’t be warped, has a rubberized surface on the back (good grip) and can’t be pressed in anywhere. The kickstand on the back is connected to a tight hinge that keeps the tablet in position even when you press your finger against the screen when making inputs. The stand can be opened to a maximum angle of around 70°.

The thin keyboard is also well made. It is flexible (only about 5 mm thick) but still rigid. The textile fabric material that covers the bottom of the keyboard looks elegant and still offers a good grip. It links the keyboard with the moveable docking strip that connects to the tablet via a magnet.

We did notice one irregularity that is worth mentioning, although this might not be a serial issue. The tablet is warped. This starts at the bottom edge (hardly noticeable) but becomes more and more obvious further up, towards the webcam. This creates a gap of two to three millimeters on the display. The warp is also visible on the back when you place it alongside a straight object. We presume that this is a one-off problem as the bend is too small for it to qualify as a curved display.

The Duet 7 weighs 1180 g or 802 g (tablet only), whcih makes it just a little heavier than the Surface Pro 7 with a Type Cover. The keyboard cover itself weighs 378 g. It is made of aluminum and is equipped with a small battery for the Bluetooth function. Microsoft’s Type Cover only weighs 292 grams; this explains the difference in weight. 

The ThinkPad X1 Tablet G3-20KJ001NGE weighs 900 grams on its own while the Dell Latitude 7200 weighs 851 g. Both are heavier than the Duet 7, even without a keyboard.

Connectivity

Lenovo has included a microSD slot – even if this isn’t apparent at first. The micro SD can be inserted into a tray that you can open up with a SIM tool or a paper clip.

There are no Type A USB ports, only Type C including DisplayPort 1.2 and PowerDelivery 3.0. While the UBS standard is 3.0 according to the technical specifications, the device manager displays USB C 3.1.

We used our Tohiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference SD to test the card reader in the Lenovo Yoga Duet. We measured a maximum transfer rate of 73 MB/s when copying jpg image data (each around 5 MB large). The AS SSD test results in a slightly higher rate. Overall, the speed is decent but not the best.

Communication

The Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 speeds are slightly below average, at least when receiving. We repeated the test in order to exclude any temporary issues.

Webcam

Neither of the two cameras offer a particularly impressive resolution (both 2592×1458) but at least they have a good focus. Nonetheless, image noise is still noticeable, even on pictures taken in daylight. 

Videos turn out well at maximum resolution (CPU utilization 40%), but focusing is a little slow, which becomes noticeable when the camera moves. 

As there is no difference in image quality nor in DeltaE results (day and night), we assume that the front and back camera are both equipped with the same CMOS chip.

Remember that this device also features face recognition with Windows Hello. This works with the in-built infrared camera, which records three-dimensional structures together with the webcam.

Accessories

Lenovo has equipped the device with a Base Pen II – a pen that is not available for purchase separately, which is why we don’t know anything about its specifications. Lenovo also highlights its E-Color pen, which haven’t been able to find available for purchase either so far. The power supply is a Type-C adapter. There is no other way to recharge the tablet.

Warranty

Lenovo gives a two-year depot warranty for its Duet 7. This means that buyers will have to refer to the local service center should any issues occur. Another option is to contact the dealer who will send the device in for repairs. Unfortunately, shops often claim no warranty for these devices, with the aim of encouraging customers to buy warranty extensions. 

Input Devices

The type cover (Duet 7 BT Folio) is only 5 mm thick and has a Bluetooth 5.0 keyboard that can be used online and offline, which means that if you dock the keyboard onto the tablet, it works without Bluetooth, but if you activate Bluetooth when the keyboard is not connected to the device (there’s a slider on the keyboard), then the keyboard can be used wirelessly via Bluetooth. Lenovo has included a small battery for this feature. The keyboard can be used wirelessly up to a distance of around 10 meters.

The keys have a clear stop, a short travel and they are relatively dull without a concave curvature. The keyboard has three-level backlighting. Feedback when typing is limited and the keys make moderate noise. All in all, this is a keyboard that is suitable for everyday use and can be used for fast typing, but that isn’t quite convincing in terms of feedback. We were definitely happy with the layout of the large keys that are all positioned in their standard places.

Lenovo has added several special functions that occupy the top keyboard row. You have to press the Fn key to access the F function. One of the special keys deactivates the microphone, one logs you out of Windows. Another opens up the calculator while the next one opens the snipping tool. Lenovo Vantage is also accessible via one of these keys, which can be used to find updates or check the warranty. Finally, users can see all the open tasks by clicking on another key. Overall, the functions seem quite useful. 

Touchpad

The ClickPad has a diagonal length of 12.4 inches, which makes it very big. Unfortunately, the travel is very short and it is difficult to trigger clicks in the top third of the pad as travel becomes shorter towards the top. The smooth surface offers no resistance when gliding, which enables fast cursor movements. The pad is sensitive even at the edges and supports multi-touch gestures (Precision touchpad), which you can set up to trigger specific actions.

Touchscreen

The touchscreen can be used with your fingers or with the active digitizer pen, which comes included with the device. The Lenovo E-Color Pen and Digital Pen are also supported.

The IPS display has an oil-resistant surface. We tried it out with butter and fingerprints, but did not notice any improvements.

Display

The 13-inch 3K panel has a resolution of 2160 x 1350 pixels (196 PPI) and a 16:10 format. Its average brightness is 411 nits and 450 nits in the center of the screen. This is very bright. Brightness is not impacted by the device running on battery.

The display also offers very good blacks with no backlight bleeding visible to the naked eye (even with the camera’s shutter speed set to 1 second). That’s black as it should be – and explains the contrast ratio of 2045:1.

The screen functions without pulse-width modulation (PWM). However, the response rates are slow. This should not be a real issue for office users.

The Delta E value (color precision) is not particularly good with a result of 6.6 ex-works. The grayscales show a significant beige cast in all segments. This can be dealt with by calibrating the display with the color spectrometer, which reduces the DeltaE values to 1.0 (grayscales) and 1.1 instead of 4.1 (colors). The color cast is no longer visible after calibration.

The Duet 7 covers 98 percent of the sRGB color space. The Dell Latitude 7200 and ThinkPad X1 Tablet G3 can do this too and Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 isn’t far behind.

The screen’s glare doesn’t make using the device outdoors easy, although the high brightness does a lot to improve the situation and makes the Duet 7 usable in most scenarios outdoors. Our photos show the display in slightly cloudy weather.

The viewing angles are very typical for an IPS display and remain good even at very wide angles.

Performance

Lenovo has equipped its Duet 7 with a cooled Intel Core i5-10210U (4x 1.60 GHz). Another configuration option is the i7-10510U (4x 1.80 GHz), which also comes with an SSD with double the capacity (512 GB). RAM remains the same at 8 GB. 

The hardware is made for office users, not for people who regularly do intensive image processing or 3D modelling. The CPU is too week for such applications. 

Processor

The Intel Core i5-10210U is an energy-efficient 15-Watt model that offers a very high turbo clock rate. At least in theory, it can reach up to 4.2 GHz (max 3.9 GHz when all 4 cores are running). Thanks to hyper threading, the chip can work 8 threads simultaneously. 

Do not confuse the i5-10210U with the faster Core i5-10510U. The latter has more L3 Cache (6 vs. 8 MB).

With the right cooling system, a i5-10210U can score up to 700 points in the Cinebench R15 – and that’s the average. The Duet 7 doesn’t reach this level of performance; we measured an average of 563 points, which is around 20 percent less. However, you can’t really compare this SoC in a notebook with a flat tablet. Taking this difference into consideration, the i5-10210U actually does a good job that definitely fulfils its specifications. Put differently: Other devices with the chip don’t offer better performance either. A Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga, for example, only reaches 506 points. 

You can take a look at the CineBench R15 (which runs in a loop for 15 to 30 minutes) results in detail in the diagram.The usual spike at the beginning flattens out more slowly than on other devices. In other words: The Yoga Duet 7 13IML05 uses the turbo clock rate intensively and continuously.

The Logfile from HWinfo confirms this. The average clock rate is 1850 MHz on all cores. Reminder: The base clock rate is 1.60 GHz.

System Performance

The system performance is average according to PCMark 10. The Duet 7 is on par with its competition in all areas. Only the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Core i5-1035G4 manages to set itself apart by doing up to 11 percent better in every sub group.

DPC latencies

The system seems not to be suitable for real-time applications such as audio. We measured high latencies that are created both by the network driver and by the DirectX kernel. 

Storage Device

The UMIS SSD (model: RPJTJ256MEE1OWX) does a fairly good job and scores record results when reading and writing large blocks of data.

Graphics

The UHD Graphics 620 is an integrated graphics chip for basic applications and also functions as video support when decoding. Its test results are modest at best with some benchmarks not delivering any results at all. Other devices show that a UHD Graphics 620 can actually reach better results (up to +10%) even in a thin tablet (ThinkPad X1 Tablet G3). However, that all is just a drop in the ocean and doesn’t make the iGPU a high-performance solution.

Gaming Performance

The performance when gaming is as one would expect from this graphics unit – subpar in all games. We suspect that this bad performance is caused by the low clock rates, as they are 30 percent below the values of an average UHD Graphics 620. Again, this value is based on notebooks that have more cooling capacity. In short: Gaming is not an option.

Emissions

System Noise

The system noise is low – actually it is very low. The Duet 7 has an active cooling fan, but it only ever produces 30 dB(A) max. That is hardly audible in an office surrounding. The fan doesn’t even turn on while idling. The ThinkPad X1 makes more noise while Dell’s Latitude 7200 is similarly quiet.

Temperature

The surface of the device remains cool despite the inactive fan while idling. The average is just about 24 °C, which was 3 °C above room temperature at the time of testing. Only very few devices manage this when their cooling fan is inactive.

The values increase to around 30 °C under load with hot spots reaching a maximum of 34 °C. This already indicates that the temperatures can’t be that high on the inside, even during the stress test. The HWinfo log file confirms this: The processor cores are continuously limited to 600 MHz. We use this test, during which we run Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously, to find out how the system deals with extreme load. This isn’t an everyday scenario. As the Cinebench loop earlier showed, the chip is definitely able to deliver suitable performance over a long period of time without throttling. 

Speakers

The small speakers are hidden in the top area of the tablet, on the right and left of the device. They produce a rather thin sound that is too strong in the mids and basically eradicates all lows. At maximum volume, music basically sounds unacceptable: thin, distorted and unnatural. Instead, the device offers Dolby Atmos headphone sounds. That’s a way better alternative and can be accessed either via Bluetooth or via the combined audio jack. 

The Dual Array microphones do a good job. Whether you talk from half a meter or from three meters away, voice is recorded at almost the same volume and with very little noise. Overall, voice still sounds rather hard and not quite natural. It’s acceptable for conferences, though, where clarity is more important than sounding natural.

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The power consumption is particularly low even compared to tablets that are already very energy-efficient. These low values are especially noticeable under load and during the stress test. The Duet 7 only requires about half of what the competition consumes. Strong throttling might explain this during the stress test, but not under normal load. The latter was calculated with the 3DMark 06, which mainly stresses the iGPU, which is rather weak in this device. This is the reason for the 20.5 W consumption rate. CineBench R15 Multi increases consumption to 42 Watt.

Battery Life

The battery has a capacity of 39 Wh, which is not a lot lower than that of the competition. Only the Surface Pro 7 offers 45 Wh. Despite its low power consumption, battery life isn’t the best. However, you can only compare a A12Z Bionic Apple processor to an Intel chip to a limited extent. If you take Apple out of the comparison, the Duet 7 does fairly well.

For everyday use, this means that you will get through a work day with one battery load provided you set the brightness to 150 nits and don’t continuously render 3D models.

Verdict

The Lenovo Yoga Duet 7 13IML05 really puts pressure on Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7. We have nothing to complain about the stable, high-quality case or the high-contrast display with sRGB coverage.

Despite having a cooling fan, the tablet remains quiet or silent (idle) at all times. Its performance fulfils our expectations for this SoC and there is no noticeable throttling under continuous load. Only the iGPU performance is below average, so gaming won’t be an option on this tablet.

The Bluetooth keyboard with a battery is a cool addition, although users will probably spend most of their time using the virtual keyboard on the screen. Lenovo has managed to make space for a microSD card reader. The tablet also features the fastest WIFi chip currently available as well as an IR camera for Windows Hello face recognition.

The Lenovo Yoga Duet 7 13IML05 is available for around $1600. This certainly doesn’t give you a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet G3 or Latitude 7200 2-in-1, which are both still equipped with the older Kaby Lake hardware. The closest competitor in terms of price is Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 (Core i5-1035G4, 256 GB).

Microsoft offers better face recognition, higher resolution, a battery that lasts an hour longer (WiFi test), better cameras and a USB Type A port. Its SoC is just as fast but gets by without a fan (i5 version). Lenovo’s Yoga Duet 7 on the other hand has more ports (albeit only USB Type-C), a better contrast ratio and it remains cooler. All in all: Microsoft wins.

SAMSUNG ODYSSEY G7 C27G7 REVIEW

If you’re going to do something, you may as well own it. That applies to pretty much everything about the new Samsung Odyssey G7 C27G7. It’s not just a little curved. It’s crazy curved. And it absolutely embraces all the latest LCD technologies intended for the best gaming monitors. Local dimming, adaptive sync, high refresh, HDR, quantum dot… it’s got the works.

To put it another way, this is a monitor that doubles down on the basic concept of an LCD monitor for high performance visuals and specifically gaming. Five years ago the future looked like it was going to be OLED. 

Today, this is as good as it gets.

At least, it is on paper. The G7’s core proposition involves a 27-inch 1440p VA panel with a super-tight 1000R curve. There are higher resolution panels and there are larger panels, but 27-inch and 1440p remains the sweet spot for many gamers in terms of striking the best balance between detail and frame rates. Increase the former courtesy of, say, a 4K pixel grid, and you’ll get less of the latter.

That plays neatly into the Samsung Odyssey G7’s conspicuously gamer-centric feature set. 

That starts with the 240Hz refresh and claimed 1ms response. That response figure is worth noting in the context of the VA panel technology. As we were recently reminded with the AOC C27G2U, VA tech’s historical weakness has been response. Sticking with the theoreticals, the G7 supports both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync. For the record, G-Sync support is the more limited ‘Compatible’ flavour. There are no Nvidia electronics onboard.

The G7 is also VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified with local backlight dimming, more on which in a moment. The HDR capabilities include a peak brightness of 600 nits and up to 95 per cent coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut. Rounding out the main image-quality related features, the VA panel is good for a claimed 2,500-to-one contrast and Samsung has integrated both a low input lag mode and user-configurable overdrive including a motion-blur reduction mode.

Inputs-wise, you’re looking at HDMI and DisplayPort but not USB-C. The latter is arguably a conspicuous omission, especially given the lofty price point. But with the gaming remit, it probably makes sense. Although USB-C power delivery maxes out at a theoretical 100W, the most we’ve seen a monitor supply is 65W. Anyway, even 100W isn’t nearly enough for a high performance gaming laptop. 

To all that you can add a two-port USB-A hub, Samsung’s rear-mounted Core LED mood lighting and a height and tilt adjustable stand and chassis with styling and build quality that blows most PC monitors out of the water. Like we said, on paper this thing rocks.

It does in practice, too, for the most part. To punt our greatest worry immediately into the stands and consign it to history, the G7 has absolutely stellar pixel response. It’s quick even in the least aggressive of its overdrive modes. With overdrive maxed out, the G7 is even better and suffers from little or no overshoot or inverse ghosting. 

That’s seriously impressive and reflects the fact that Samsung itself is heavily invested in producing VA technology and arguably makes the finest such panels in the world.

For general feel and accuracy, the G7 is fantastic, too. At a glance, you’d be hard pressed to distinguish it from a very good IPS panel when it comes to colour balance. But with that you also get the much better contrast and black levels of VA. That’s a fabulous combo. Factor in buttery smooth 240Hz refresh and adaptive sync and, well, this is one heck of a gaming panel. 

But it’s also slightly flawed. 

Technically, the main shortcoming involves HDR support. As implied by the DisplayHDR 600 certification, the backlight supports local dimming. But there are just eight edge-lit vertical zones. It’s such a kludgy, half-arsed solution, the G7 would arguably be better off with a single fixed backlight.

Whatever, this is not a true HDR display. It’s better thought of as a really punchy SDR panel and, indeed, in our testing that’s how it performs best, including comparing games with lots of darker scenes that support HDR, like Metro Exodus, in both SDR and HDR modes.

The other major question mark involves the extreme 1000R panel curvature. It certainly gives the G7 a dramatic wrap-around feel. It works pretty well in-game, which is, after all, the main remit. But it’s rather distracting and distorted on the Windows desktop, limiting this monitor’s appeal as an all rounder.

Those caveats aside, this remains a pretty fabulous gaming panel. If you’re looking for a 1440p monitor, and price isn’t really an issue, the G7 should almost certainly be on your shortlist. But it is all a reminder, not only of the ultimate limitations of LCD technology, but also the care needed when making assumptions, both for better and worse. 

On the one hand, the G7 proves that VA technology can rival TN for pixel response. On the other, it confirms HDR with local dimming guarantees little in the real world.

New 13-inch MacBook Pro With Apple Silicon Rumored to Get 12-Core ‘A14Z’ Chip; Cheaper Than Intel Version

Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event is just a few hours away, and we’ll likely bear witness to the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch MacBook Air unveilings, according to what previous reports have suggested. Given that the MacBook Pro is supposed to be the more expensive model, we also expect it to pack more powerful internals. One tipster suggests that this is the case and claims that the new machine will sport a 12-core chip named the ‘A14Z’. Going by Apple’s history, if this is true, the company will likely name it the A14Z Bionic.

More Info Talks About the Sub-$1,299 Price Tag for the Apple Silicon 13-inch MacBook Pro

A 12-core chip running inside an Apple Silicon Mac has been talked about before, though an official name wasn’t mentioned. According to 000leaker, it’s apparently the ‘A14Z’, with the less powerful 13-inch MacBook Air getting treated to an 8-core chip, which according to a previous rumor, is said to be near-identical to the upcoming A14X Bionic. Speaking of the A14X Bionic, previously leaked benchmark results showed that the custom silicon is an 8-core part, and it effortlessly beats the most powerful 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Looking at these results, the 13-inch MacBook Pro armed with a 12-core A14Z Bionic is expected to be an absolute beast of a machine and a cheaper one at that. According to 000leaker, the new Apple Silicon Mac will be more affordable than the $1,299 Intel version currently available at the Apple Store. Unfortunately, he’s unsure if the new model will get Thunderbolt 3, though Apple has said that support will arrive for future models.

A prototype Apple Silicon Mac was earlier said to be tested out, with very positive results as far as performance goes. This only makes things simpler for future customers when purchases are concerned, but why stop here? Apple has grand plans, it seems, with the company reportedly developing a desktop-class A14T chip for the iMac, as well as a Mac Pro that’s said to be around half the current workstation’s size. From the looks of it, Apple wants to bet the future on its custom chipsets so that it will be an exciting few months hereon.

Unfortunately, since nothing is confirmed, we recommend you treat all this info with a pinch of salt for now, and like always, we’ll be back with more updates.

Chuwi CoreBox Pro: Ice Lake mini-PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port launched for US$439

Chuwi has unleashed a new mini-PC, the CoreBox Pro. The new machine, which can be ordered for US$439 directly from Chuwi, measures 173 x 158 x 73 mm – dimensions that correspond to a volume of two litres. The CoreBox Pro comes with an Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor and 12 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. It is unclear if the CoreBox Pro has dual-channel RAM, but we do know that its processor has two core, four threads and a boost clock speed of 3.4 GHz.

Additionally, Chuwi has equipped the device with a 256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, two video outputs and four USB 3.0 Type-A ports. Moreover, the CoreBox Pro has dual Ethernet ports, dedicated headphone and microphone jacks and a solitary Thunderbolt 3 port.

The CoreBox Pro comes preloaded with Windows 10 Home and includes a power adapter in the box. The machine should weigh around 900 g, and has a microSD card reader for removable storage, although we are unsure where.

Razer Book 13 is the lovechild between a Dell XPS 13 and a Blade Stealth that we never knew we wanted

The Razer brand has always been associated primarily with dedicated gamers. More recently, however, the company has been branching out to mobile workstations to capture some of that lucrative professional market. The portable Razer Book 13 is the latest non-gaming laptop from Razer designed specifically for office or business use much like a traditional Ultrabook.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Razer laptop without some curveballs or surprises. The Book 13 is a completely new design with a 16:10 form factor in contrast to the existing 16:9 Blade Stealth series. Ports, keyboard lighting, and dimensions are all very different from the gaming-centric Blade Stealth. Razer attempted to market the Blade Stealth to a wider audience of office users with the iGPU-only Ice Lake option last year, but SKUs ended up being very confusing for anyone but enthusiasts. Branching off the iGPU-only option to a brand new category seems like the smarter move. 

The move to 16:10 and an integrated vapor chamber cooler will inevitably draw comparisons to the popular Dell XPS 13 9300 or XPS 13 2-in-1 which feature similar specifications. Razer is betting that its per-key RGB lighting, full-size HDMI and USB-A ports, and sleeker visual style can persuade some companies or office users into considering the Book 13 instead of the usual Dell, Lenovo or HP. Nonetheless, the lack of a webcam shutter, fingerprint reader, and Kensington Lock may turn off the more serious business users.

The Razer Book 13 will be available by the end of this month in three SKUs with Core i5/i7, FHD/4K, 8/16 GB RAM, and 256/512 GB PCIe SSD configurations for $1200 USD all the way up to $2000 USD for the U.S. market while European users will have to wait a little longer. Mercury White will be the only color at launch meaning that future Blade Stealth models will no longer carry this same color option. The name strongly suggests that we’ll probably see a “Book 15” sometime in the future should this 13.4-inch model find mass appeal.

The New Apple Silicon MacBook Pro Concept Shows iPad Pro-Like Rounded Corners Coupled With Slim Bezels and a Compact Chassis

The Apple Silicon MacBook Pro design isn’t something that was regularly mentioned in the countless wave of rumors we stumbled across. However, since it would sport a custom ARM-based chip, we can assume that Apple would aim to put the hardware inside a compact, but thoroughly rigid chassis. Looks like we’ll have to wait until November 10 to find out, as that’s when Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event will kick off. Then again, why wait when you can check out the Apple Silicon MacBook Pro right now thanks to this latest concept.

Fresh Concept Shows Smaller, but Wider Trackpad Thanks to the Reduced Footprint

It looks like ZONEofTECH was deeply inspired by the iPad Pro design if it took cues from that to make the Apple Silicon MacBook Pro concept. If you take a close look at the images, you’ll notice that the ARM-based notebook sports rounded corners with symmetrical and slimmer bezels, just like Apple’s premium tablet. It appears that nearly everyone has something positive to say about the iPad Pro design, even the company since the iPhone 12’s new look is also based on that.

The concept also shows that the Apple Silicon MacBook Pro is able to run iOS natively, so let us see if Apple brings the same compatibility in the near future. Just like the Intel-based versions, this concept shows a Touch Bar at the top, an inverted-T arrow key cluster on the right, and a decent keyboard layout that’s also backlit. Naturally, thanks to the smaller footprint of the Apple Silicon MacBook Pro, the trackpad size had to be reduced, but it’s still wide enough to allow users to take their palms at a fair amount of distance.

Personally, we’re impressed with the level of creativity ZONEofTECH brought to the table with this concept, although we’re not sure if Apple will intend on using this design when it preps for next week’s presentation. Fortunately, the pricing is rumored to be competitive, with the new 13-inch MacBook Air possibly starting from $799, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro starting from $1,099 to undercut the competition while also being cheaper than their Intel counterparts.

As for the hardware, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is rumored to ship with a custom 12-core SoC, so we’ll wait and see just how well it performs when the first products are officially available to purchase. As for this concept, let us know down in the comments if you appreciate this level of depth added to make these images.

LG quietly unveils a fast 27-inch FreeSync Premium gaming monitor

At first glance, LG’s new 27-inch UltraGear 27GN800-B gaming monitor appears virtually identical to another one with a similar model number (27GN850-B). Both are equipped with a fast screen and offer similar specifications across the board, but the new 27GN800-B is actually a little different (and hopefully ends up a little bit cheaper to boot).

The 27GN800-B is another LG monitor to feature an IPS panel, just like the 27GN850-B that came before it. And like its predecessor, it offers a native 2560×1440 (QHD) resolution with a respectably fast 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms gray-to-gray response time, making it a good option for gaming with a mid-range and/or high-end graphics card.

Both are also FreeSync Premium models that have passed Nvidia’s G-Sync Compatible certification program, which means they can match the display’s refresh rate to the GPU for smoother gaming whether you’re using a Radeon or GeForce GPU.

Here are the key specifications at a glance:

Size—27 inches

Display type—IPS

Resolution—2560×1440 (QHD)

Refresh rate—144Hz

Response time—1ms GtG

Brightness—350 nits

Contrast ratio—1,000:1

Color gamut—99 percent sRGB

Adaptive sync—FreeSync Premium, G-Sync Compatible

HDR—HDR10

Most of the specifications are the same as 27GN850-B, except for that monitor, LG lists a DCI-P3 color gamut (98 percent) rating rather than sRGB. Power consumption on the newer 27GN800-B is a lower lower as well (45-48W versus 51-55W), but otherwise, both serve up a pair of HDMI inputs, a single DisplayPort connector, and a headphone-out jack, and they each lack built-in speakers.

What this really boils down to (as far as I can tell) is a skimpier stand. The stand on the 27GN800-B does not allow for any height or pivot adjustments, only tilt, whereas the 27GN850-B offers all three. So depending on where pricing lands, it could come down to ergonomics versus economics when debating the two.

LG has not announced a price yet, nor has it even formally introduced the 27GN800-B, there is just a product landing page. As a point of reference, however, the 27GN850-B goes for $450 on Best Buy. I would expect (hope, really) the 27GN800-B would come in $50+ below.